ESPN broadcaster Samantha Ponder slammed a sports columnist who called her a bigot after she defended biological women’s sports, noting that “biology isn’t bigotry.”
USA Today columnist Nancy Armour criticized sports broadcaster Samantha Ponder’s comments, referring to them as “plain old bigotry” after Ponder had defended women’s sports and expressed support for swimmer Riley Gaines, who advocates for excluding men from women’s sports, Fox News reported.
“Biology is not bigotry. Loving people does not require the absence of boundaries,” Ponder tweeted in response.
Biology is not bigotry. Loving people does not require the absence of boundaries.
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 31, 2023
Ponder, alongside her ESPN colleague Sage Steele, have openly expressed their endorsement of Gaines, who has emerged as a leading advocate for transgender athletes’ inclusion in sports based on their birth-assigned gender rather than their gender identity. Gaines gained prominence after her remarkable performance, tying with Lia Thomas, at the NCAA Championships in 2022.
Last week, Ponder revisited the topic after Gaines’ tweet regarding the messages she received regarding transgender high school runners competing in the girls’ division in California. But Armour directed criticism towards Ponder in a column over her remarks.
“Don’t be fooled by the people who screech about ‘fairness’ to cloak their bigotry toward transgender girls and women, the transgender girls and women who have the audacity to want to play sports, in particular,” Armour, who likely would be offended if she had to share intimate space with a biological male, began.
“This is, and always was, about hate, fear and ignorance,” she claimed.
Armour specifically expressed disagreement with Ponder’s decision to address this matter instead of discussing the lack of equitable funding in girls’ and women’s sports when compared to boys’ and men’s sports.
“Did Ponder use her platform to express outrage at any of this? Urge her nearly half-million followers on Twitter to write or call their representatives and ask that women be given the funding and opportunities they rightfully deserve? Did she publicly participate in any of the many excellent documentaries, videos and commentary ESPN did to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX last year? Or even Tweet about them?” Armour wrote.
“No, she did not. Her public concern about ‘fairness’ for female athletes starts and stops with the miniscule number of transgender women who are participating in sports.”
Ponder tweeted that it’s not “hateful” to demand “fairness in sports for girls.”
“I barely said anything publicly about this issue & I’ve had so many people message me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories about girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful,” the ESPN broadcaster wrote in a tweet along with screenshots of people expressing support. “It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls.”
I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls https://t.co/teNoMDWNW4
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 25, 2023
